Donald Ramphadi

Last updated

Donald Ramphadi
Donald Ramphadi 2024 (cropped).jpg
Country (sports)Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa
Residence Pretoria, South Africa
Born (1993-06-10) 10 June 1993 (age 31)
Mogapeng, South Africa
College University of South Africa
Singles
Career record160100 [1]
Highest rankingNo. 3 (17 July 2023) [1]
Current rankingNo. 6 (26 August 2024) [1]
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open SF (2023, 2024)
French Open SF (2024)
Wimbledon SF (2023)
US Open SF (2022)
Other tournaments
Paralympic Games R16 (2024)
Doubles
Career record9685 [2]
Highest rankingNo. 3 (22 January 2024) [2]
Current rankingNo. 8 (26 August 2024) [2]
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open F (2023, 2024)
French Open W (2023)
Wimbledon SF (2022, 2023, 2024)
US Open F (2023)
Other doubles tournaments
Paralympic Games SF (2024)
Medal record
Men's wheelchair tennis
Representing Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa
Paralympic Games
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2024 Paris Quad doubles

Donald Ramphadi (born 10 June 1993), [3] nicknamed Dona, [3] is a South African wheelchair tennis player who plays in the sport's quad division. Ramphadi, alongside partner Andy Lapthorne, is the 2023 French Open quad wheelchair doubles champion. [4] Ramphadi has also been the runner-up in numerous quad wheelchair doubles grand slam events, with frequent partners including Lapthorne, Lucas Sithole, and Koji Sugeno. [5] Ramphadi and Sithole won bronze in the quad doubles wheelchair tennis event at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, which was the African continent's first-ever wheelchair tennis medal. [6]

Contents

Tennis career

Ramphadi first started playing tennis in 2009 while studying at Letaba Special School in Tzaneen, Limpopo Province, and originally thought tennis was "a white people sport" but ended up falling in love with the game. [4] He was cleared to compete in the quad division of wheelchair tennis in 2018. [4]

Ramphadi has participated in several Grand Slams' quad wheelchair divisions in both singles and doubles. Ramphadi and his partner Andy Lapthorne claimed the 2023 French Open quad wheelchair doubles title at Roland-Garros, winning the final match on Ramphadi's birthday while he played in a secondhand wheelchair. [4]

Ramphadi (left) and Lucas Sithole in their semifinal match at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games Wheelchair tennis at the 2024 Summer Paralympics - Quad Doubles Semi-final Schroder - Vink vs Ramphadi - Sithole - 09.jpg
Ramphadi (left) and Lucas Sithole in their semifinal match at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games

Ramphadi and partner Lucas Sithole made it to the semifinals of the 2024 Paralympics' quad doubles wheelchair tennis event, losing to 2020 gold medalists Sam Schröder and Niels Vink. [7] Ramphadi and Sithole then defeated the Brazilian pair of Ymanitu Silva (one of Ramphadi's previous partners) [8] and Leandro Pena to win the event's bronze medal, which was South Africa's fourth medal of the 2024 Games and the first-ever wheelchair tennis medal won by an African country. [6]

Ramphadi has noted his desire to encourage more young Black South Africans to pick up tennis, saying, "Now that I am a grand slam champion, just to change the way that young kids are thinking at home is the aim." [4]

Personal life

Ramphadi was born in Mogapeng, a village in the Greater Tzaneen Local Municipality of Limpopo Province, South Africa. [8] [9] He was fully able-bodied until the age of 12, when he developed osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), also known as brittle bone disease. His mobility decreased until he almost could not walk, though it began to partly increase after his mother suggested he begin walking with a cane she had collected in a local forest. [10] Ramphadi attended the University of South Africa. He now lives in Pretoria and is a father to one son. [3]

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Sam Schröder and Niels Vink defeated the two-time defending champion Dylan Alcott and his partner Heath Davidson in the final, 6–3, 6–2 to win the quad doubles wheelchair tennis title at the 2021 US Open.

Sam Schröder and Niels Vink defeated Donald Ramphadi and Ymanitu Silva in the final, 6–1, 6–3 to win the quad doubles wheelchair tennis title at the 2023 Australian Open. With the win, Schröder and Vink completed both a non-calendar-year Grand Slam and the career Super Slam in wheelchair quad doubles.

Andy Lapthorne and Donald Ramphadi defeated Heath Davidson and Robert Shaw in the final, 1–6, 6–2, [10–3] to win the quad doubles wheelchair tennis title at the 2023 French Open.

Two-time defending champions Sam Schröder and Niels Vink defeated Andy Lapthorne and Donald Ramphadi in the final, 6–1, 6–2 to win the quad doubles wheelchair tennis title at the 2023 US Open.

Andy Lapthorne and David Wagner defeated Donald Ramphadi and Guy Sasson in the final, 6–4, 3–6, [10–2] to win the quad doubles wheelchair tennis title at the 2024 Australian Open.

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Mogapeng is a village in the municipality of Greater Tzaneen, Mopani District, Limpopo, South Africa. As of the 2011 Census, it has a population of 2,702 and an area of 2.80 square kilometres (1.08 sq mi).

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Donald Ramphadi Wheelchair Tennis Singles Overview". ITF. International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 "Donald Ramphadi Wheelchair Tennis Doubles Overview". ITF. International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 "Ramphadi, Donald". Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. IOC. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Solms, Leonard (5 July 2023). "Can Donald Ramphadi win Wimbledon in a secondhand wheelchair?". ESPN.com. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  5. "Donald Ramphadi Wheelchair Tennis Doubles Activity". ITF. International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  6. 1 2 Strydom, Marc (4 September 2024). "Sithole and Ramphadi add Team SA's fourth medal at Roland-Garros". Times Live. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  7. "Schroder / Vink vs Ramphadi / Sithole Results". Paris 2024 Paralympics. IOC. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  8. 1 2 Hemmonsbey, Keanan (25 January 2023). "South Africa's Donald Ramphadi reaches Quad Wheelchair Double Australian Open final". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  9. McLean, Ross. "'I am carrying the South African flag on my shoulders'". ITF. International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  10. McLean, Ross. "Sithole, Ramphadi: Africa has first Paralympic wheelchair tennis medal". ITF. International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 4 September 2024.